‘It gets tiring’: Port forecast AFL action over racism
Roger Vaughan |
Port Adelaide are forecasting the AFL will do more to press for government legislation on social media in the wake of the game’s latest racism abuse.
Port’s Jase Burgoyne and St Kilda young gun Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera called out online racism after their Sunday games.
The league is investigating, with the Saints and Power saying they could also take the abuse to their respective police for further action.
Last week, a Melbourne man was arrested and charged after alleged racist comments on social media directed towards NBL star Montrezl Harrell.
Port football manager Chris Davies said at a Tuesday media conference there was only so much the club could do in terms of pushing for laws around social media, especially anonymous accounts.
“That would be far more easily led by the AFL … (they) have a responsibility here to help the clubs to make these issues easier for the clubs involved,” he said.
“Into the future, the AFL will be doing more than what they are right now.
“We can all do more into the future.”
Davies said the ongoing racism was “tiring” for players and their families.
“We have to respect our players enough to make it a little bit easier for them to be able to report these types of things – and maybe, into the future, some laws will have to change as well,” he said.
“Certainly we’re going to take the approach of elevating these issues … and support our players in doing that, trying to highlight how important that is.
“The AFL will need to take a step forward in helping to manage these issues with players, but I’m not forecasting the specific way of dealing with it.
“It gets tiring for the people who are involved, who are receiving this regularly.”
Davies said Burgoyne was “okay – but it takes its toll”.
The Port football boss added it was up to Burgoyne whether he went to SA Police.
“We’ll support him in whatever he wants to do, but we are 100 per cent of the view that we need to elevate these situations … to get some change. We’re having that conversation with SA Police,” he said.
Davies called the abuse “disgusting … vile”.
He said betting added another element to the online abuse players copped. Wanganeen-Milera’s abuse appeared related to punting on his statistics in the loss to Sydney.
“The number of peanuts that I’ve seen messages from over time … they’re issues that the AFL have to deal with,” Davies said.
“We can’t hide from where the money comes from into the game, but equally you can do whatever you can to support the players in these types of situations.”
AAP
